Duel Monsters is a great game, full of strategy and counter-tactics. It is amazingly fun when you know what you are doing. However, if you are just being introduced to the game and there is no one helping you, then it can be very difficult to start on the right track. Luckily, there is this guide to help you learn how to improve your game.

More than 80% of the battle is won by having a good deck. The rest involves proper usage of the deck, your opponent's deck, and a bit of luck. The starting deck that you get in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 is no where near good enough for you to use. In fact, you may even have some trouble with your first opponent, Rally, who should be a push over with an average deck.

First Things First

When starting the game, the first thing you should do is go to World Championship mode and visit the card store. The main deck that you use in World Championship mode is synced with the deck that you use in the story mode. Thus, you can start the story later on with a decent deck and get a head start!

You start the game with some Duel Points, feel free to use them all to buy booster packs at the card store. Of the four booster packs that are available to you at the beginning, know that the first pack, Dark Beginning 1, has a lot of good effect monsters for your deck. Dark Beginning 2 packs contain a good number of useful spell cards. The third pack available, Dark Revelations Volume 1, contains a good number of theme sets. You may need to focus on buying more of Dark Revelations Volume 1 in order to collect all the good cards in a theme. The fourth pack, Dark Revelations Volume 2, does not contain many useful cards for you at the start of the game and should be avoided for now.

The Usual Suspects

Below is a list of core cards that should be in your deck if possible. They are essentially support cards (which will be covered further down), but are so supportive that they can fit in with almost any deck. Some may argue that the list should have or should not have certain cards. Pay attention to their advice, but play test them yourself before deciding to add or remove a card.

Mystical Space Typhoon

Heavy Storm

Monster Reborn

Mirror Force

Torrential Tribute

Smashing Ground

Fissure

Theme Party!

Based on the cards that you get in the game, the theme that you will want to pursue will vary. For example, if you managed to get a lot of Gravekeeper's cards, then you may want to try making a Gravekeeper deck. As mentioned before, Dark Revelations Volume 1 contains several theme sets, including Amazoness, Gravekeepers and XYZ Dragon.

Once you pick a theme, gather all the cards related to that theme. World Championship 2009's deck builder has a great function where, if you select a card, you can select to see all the cards that have a relationship with that card, which will allow you to quickly find the cards that fit the theme among all the other cards you have.

Be careful that you do not simply just take all cards that fit your theme and throw them into your deck! Even if the card fits your theme, it may still not be very useful at all. For example, if you were making a Gravekeeper's deck, you will want to keep Gravekeeper's Spy in your deck because it will allow you to find specific cards in your deck. However, you will probably not want to keep Gravekeeper's Vassal, since it is weak and does not have a useful ability.

Useful abilities are those that either benefit you immediately or in the future, or those that will help you to disrupt your opponent's strategy. If you are unsure about a card, keep it in your deck and watch how you use it when you test out your deck. The World Championship mode has a few opponents that you can play against. See if you enjoy using the card and see how often it simply just sits in your hand being useless. If the card readily helps you achieve victory, then keep it.

Everybody Needs a Helping Hand

Support cards are cards that improves your deck's ability to show off its theme. For example, if you have a lot of Beast type monsters and your deck focuses on synchro summons, then a Rescue Cat card would be really helpful. If you have lots of useful flip effect monsters in your deck, then a Book of Moon card is essential. Make sure that your support cards are really helpful to your deck and its theme. There is no point in having lots of really good trap cards in your deck if it is supposed to be focused on summoning Jinzo.

For the most part, avoid putting in normal monsters in your deck unless you need them for tribute or special summons. Effect monsters work just as well as normal monsters and they have added bonuses in their ability. As well, avoid equip spells like Horn of the Unicorn or Axe of Despair, because it is rare that they will be a life saver when a card like Bottomless Blackhole is better to have on hand.

That said, it is important to keep your deck around 40 cards. This way, you are more likely to grab the cards you need. Since you cannot have more than three of the same card in your deck, this is crucial. If you have more than 40 cards, ponder over the usefullness and purpose of each card and eliminate the weakest from your deck.

Polish and Shine!

Once you have a deck that you feel confident about, test it out in a duel against an opponent! Try both hard and easy opponents and see if the theme of your deck can beat the themes of your opponents. As mentioned before, keep an eye on which cards you rely on the most and which cards tend to be unused. If you are having trouble dealing with a certain strategy that multiple opponents use, you may have found a weakness and will need to revise your deck a bit. For example, if your game falls apart once you lose your starting group of monsters to a trap or spell card, then add some Magic Jammer cards or Destruction Jammer cards and see if that helps.

Constantly improvement is key and is easy in this game, since you will earn lots of Duel Points while play testing your decks and can use that to work on your deck some more. Duel Monsters is a fun game because there isn't one perfect, unbeatable strategy. But, through testing and building, you will be able to come very close to a perfect deck.